Research: Remote Workers Driving VoIP Adoption

The expected cost savings, as well as mobility, are among the reasons why enterprises will switch to VoIP, according to a new study.

Remote teleworkers, the need for mobility, and expected cost savings are the key driving forces for the adoption of VoIP according to a new study from the UK.

The study was conducted during April and May 2005 by analyst firm Ovum in conjunction with Imago Communications and its VoIP for Business conference. Telecommuting/ Teleworking was cited by 61 percent of survey respondents as being among the applications driving the move to converged IP services and VoIP. Sixty-one percent also cited mobility as a key application driver while 57 percent cited desktop integration as a key application for converged IP and VoIP.

Mobility also ranked highly in terms of respondents' business goals with 47 percent indicating that enabling mobility was a key driver to moving to VoIP while 41 percent noted that extending functionality to remote workers was a key business goal adoption driver for VoIP.

In terms of how survey respondents planned to deploy VoIP, 53 percent indicated that it would premises based, with hybrid deployments coming in second at 14 percent. Mobile/Wireless deployments and hosted deployments were both noted by 12 percent. Peer-to-peer voice networks were not seen as offering a business-strength solution by 68 percent of survey participants.

In terms of security, which at least one analyst has recently called into question, 68 percent agreed with the assertion that public VoIP traffic was vulnerable to hackers. Though respondents were aware of the potential threat a solid majority (70 percent) indicated that they were satisfied with VoIP security.

Adam Malik, Imago Communications Commercial Director of the VoIP for Business show thought that the most surprising outcome of the research was the extremely high interest in wireless VoIP. In terms of respondent attitudes 86 percent stated that wireless VoIP was of significant interest to them. "I believe it's an indication that the market is maturing," Malik told EnterpriseVoIPplanet.com. "The fact that both 'teleworking' and 'mobility' were regarded as key business drivers behind VoIP adoption by 61 percent of respondents would also surprise some peoplebut it further supports the view that enterprise VoIP has now moved well beyond early adopters in the UK."

Beyond the need for mobility, money is likely the greatest driver for VoIP adoption. Sixty-nine percent indicated that anticipated cost savings was a leading driver for moving to converged IP services and VoIP.